The Fifth Beast (ManxMan Chinese/Celtic Fantasy Story)

Chapter 43

Now that Niall had already seen Khanbaliq, it certainly didn't surprise him that the Kirinches were familiar with siege tactics. Come to think of it, maybe even better than the Tuaths. A thousand years ago, back in Erin, the Tuatha Dé castles were much simpler: wooden buildings, log walls, sometimes even a cave in the hill with an enchanted entrance that was not visible to the mortal eye. They were burned, rebuilt, and burned again in endless skirmishes with the Fir Bolg (and at times, with each other).

Only in Mag Tuired, under the protection of the Queen's Shield, did the Tuatha Dé have enough leisure and wealth to build beautiful stone castles, intended primarily not for defense, but for a luxurious life. But Sliabh Mis, like all the castles of the North, was built by Niall's father, Nechtan Mac Ethliu. In it beauty was combined with pure practicality: the walls were high, the loopholes narrow, the gates sturdy, and the moat deep. Not like Ath Luain, of course, with its mighty white walls that looked like sheer cliffs. But one couldn't take Sliabh Mis by a frontal attack: it would simply die out in the moat under the storm of arrows from the walls.

Faolan Three Swords clearly understood this. First of all, he drove many peasants from surrounding villages and made them dig protective trenches for the Kirinches. That was why he didn't burn the villages! Now he could promise that he would continue to spare them if the peasants obeyed. Besides, the distant glow and smoke of a big fire would certainly have been noticed in Ath Luain.

Niall hoped vaguely that they would notice the small fire he himself had had to start: burning down all the servants' houses and outbuildings located outside the wall so that the barbarians could not use them for cover. Losing the whole barnyard was a pity: all the cows and pigs were driven out from it to their pastures early in the morning, and no one had time to drive them inside the walls. So during the siege they would have to be content with stocks of corned beef, dried fish, grain and other preserves. The whole herd of Sliabh Mis went to the barbarians, and judging by the huge number of fires and the smell of roasted meat, they did not hesitate to use it. But no, the fire was not big enough to be seen from Daire's castle. Especially if Daire himself was out hunting with the fianna, as was his custom.

Niall could have given the order to fire on the peasants busy digging the trenches. He considered it for a bit. He had no reason to feel pity for mortals, even for his own subjects. The new ones would be born quite quickly by the Tuatha Dé standards, and following the enemy's orders and working against one's lord and master was a crime punishable by death. An arrow through the heart was an easy death, unlike some other manners of execution.

However, Fao was not a fool. Those trenches ran along the very border of the arrowshot distance from the castle walls. Sliabh Mis archers occasionally took down a careless barbarian with a well-placed shot, but in general the weapon master forbade wasting arrows. In addition, the barbarians prudently made wooden fences which covered the workers with shovels.

Yes, it was still possible to shoot in an arc from the high walls of Sliabh Mis and place most of the arrows behind the wooden fences, in the trenches — they would do enough damage even without careful aim. But how would it affect the morale of Niall's soldiers, who had friends and relatives digging the trenches? How would it affect the future of Sliabh Mis? After all, many people were needed for harvesting, and no one would cancel the annual tribute to Ath Luain and Emain Macha. To be honest, Niall wasn't particularly keen on being known as a cruel master. What songs would the bards sing about him if he ordered to kill his own subjects, whom even the barbarians spared?

Niall's lightning bolts couldn't reach the trenches either, but he had noticed with great satisfaction that now they reached not for five steps as before, but for ten or even fifteen steps, and their might had increased too, very visibly: now they were leaving a smoking hole in the ground. If he threw a ball of lightning, it would burst out with a roar, scattering clods of earth around.

No matter, it was clear that the barbarians prepared the shielded trenches only as a temporary camp. Sooner or later they would have to leave them and attack the walls. Then the soldiers' arrows and Niall's lightning bolts would mow them down on the very approach to the moat of Sliabh Mis.

One night, Niall came out through an underground passage, with the speed of lightning, of course, and without any light, be it a torch or a ball of lightning (he knew the surroundings of his castle well enough to be able to find his way in the dark). As Fao said, the cromlech was guarded by about two dozen Kirinches. Niall could have killed them all without even breaking a sweat, and he was going to, but changed his mind. If Fao thought that Niall managed to send a message to Daire, he would take off and leave, and how would Niall find him in the vast northern steppe?

Niall did not harm the sentries at the cromlech, but visited the trenches — even at night, work was in full swing here by the light of lanterns. The barbarians grew careless after realizing that the Tuaths wouldn't shoot at their own from the castle. Well, Niall had taught them a lesson. Slowly and carefully (after all, mortals moved like sleepy flies as he accelerated) he scorched several armed barbarians overseeing the work with lightning bolts. Even if one charge had never killed a mortal on the spot, a dozen of them in a row were a completely different matter.

Then he launched a discharge along the bottom and walls of the trenches, and the stunned peasants fell down along with their shovels. Finally, he doused the wooden fences with the tar he had brought with him and set fire by a lightning spark. As a finishing touch, he nailed a couple of barbarian corpses to the fences and returned to the castle, pleased with himself. The fire turned out to be a great spectacle, the soldiers of Sliabh Mis screamed with joy and banged swords on shields, singing praises to their mighty lord, and the archers managed to take down a couple dozen more of the barbarians who were trying to put out the flames.

The Yuizhen, of course, came to see the scale of destruction. Niall was pleased to see that this time Fao did not neglect to wear a breastplate, helmet and bracers, and even hung a targe on his back, going around the moat. He stopped his horse on a hillock and looked in the direction of Sliabh Mis for a long time. His facial expression wasn't visible, but Niall could well imagine it: the icy calm and sang-froid, only a touch of annoyance mixed with admiration in the eyes. Did you think it easy fighting an Elemental Lord? he gloated internally. Niall was the youngest of them, more than a hundred years younger than everyone else except Cumal (with whom he was only ten years apart).

The arrow stuck into the ground almost between the front hooves of the grey stallion. Faolan Three Swords didn't even flinch as he continued to stare at Sliabh Mis. Niall stood on the bridge above the gates and bowed slightly, with a mocking smile. Fao grinned and tilted his head in response. Then he turned around and went to give orders.

The peasants were clearly unwilling to continue their work, meeting so closely with their lord's wrath, and now they were being urged on by whips and flats of the Kirinches' sabers. The work went on much slower, especially when Sliabh Mis archers, on Niall's orders, fired a volley of arrows into the edge of the trench, wounding a few men in the arm or leg, but mostly just frightening them. A peasant, who was not a warrior, was rarely able to maintain his composure when an arrow stuck in the ground merely a step away from him.

However, Niall failed to repeat his heroic deed. Fao prevented him quite simply: he posted sentries around the whole castle, which lit fires all night long. Niall couldn't risk anyone seeing him coming out of the underground passage. And the trench was almost finished, so Niall would have just delayed the inevitable. He couldn't possibly fill the trench up with any of his magic!

Oh, how handy could have been the mirror or the comb of Elatha Mac Lir, so thoughtlessly wasted in the lands of the Kirinches! Niall imagined Elatha's face if he came to Ynis Celt via the cromlech and asked for a couple of similar trinkets. Especially after he didn't even come back to personally thank Elatha for his invaluable help, just sent a message.

Niall smiled ruefully. No, it's time to manage on his own, without relying on the more powerful Tuatha Dé lords and their help. In the end, he'd been doing quite well so far!

He still felt pride and self-satisfaction when one night a volley of flaming arrows flew out of the trench.